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Chris Coghlan: We need Nick Johnson

First baseman Nick Johnson left the first game of Sunday’s double-header with right hamstring strain.

Johnson was injured in the first inning while running down the line after hitting a fly ball. He is listed as day to day.

The Marlins want Nick Johnson back in the lineup ASAP. (Chris Salata / The Post)

Johnson said after the Marlins split a double-header with the Rockies that the injury was “pretty painful” at first but got better as he iced the leg throughout the day.

“It’s tough,” he said. “You want to be out there grinding it out with the guys.”

Johnson said it was too soon to know if he could play Tuesday, the night the Marlins start a six game road trip with three in Houston and three in Atlanta. He was not limping and the leg was not wrapped as he left the clubhouse.

Johnson is hitting .308 with a .500 on base percentage since joining the Marlins on July 31, minutes before the trade deadline had passed. He has stabilized the top of the order, hitting second between Chris Coghlan and Hanley Ramirez.

Since Johnson joined the team, the Marlins were leading the majors with a .317 team average, 86 runs and a .397 on base percentage entering Sunday.

“He’s a big part of this team,” Coghlan said. “We need him.”

Johnson, 30, has been injured prone the last few years, appearing in just 38 games in 2008 before a wrist injury and missing the 2007 season with a fractured femur in his right leg.

Emilio Bonifacio took Johnson’s spot in the order in the second game, batting second. Jorge Cantu moved back to first base and Wes Helms played third.